Billie Bossa Nova

16.

Billie searched around the open space, the cogs in her brain spinning. Tyla took deliberate steps close to her, stopping just a far enough distance to aim the gun perfectly at her forehead.

"So you've been double crossing me all this time? I should've known. Your story is bullshit," she spat the words out like they were sour.

The man shook his head slowly. "Oh no, Ms. Eilish, you've got me all wrong. I really am just a father in search for his daughter."

Billie crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. The movement of her hands made Tyla's hand flinch. "Careful," he warned, "I might pull if you move too much." She scoffed. Rolled her eyes. Tyla grit his teeth. "Where I can see them."

With a bored and exasperated exhale, Billie lifted both hands above her shoulders. "You weren't done telling me that creative story about you being a good father."

"Don't test me, Eilish."

"I clearly should have earlier, seeing as you almost had me fooled."

"Getting to that. Allow me to finish. If you should know, I did find Penelope eventually. She was with those sluts when I pulled over in the street and called her." There was a mixture of sadness and utter dismay in his face as he retold the experience. "She was barely dressed, in a manner I'd never allow her to leave the house. I called her over and I could tell from her face that she panicked just from hearing my voice. I had to come out of the car and walk up to her because she wasn't responding to me.

I was so relieved and happy to see her, I was nearly in tears." Tyla shook his head. His eyes were on Billie, but she could tell that she was transparent to him, like he wasn't really looking at her but perhaps at the bitter memory. "She didn't even give me a chance to speak her. She called someone's name, I can't remember if it was Hales or Hake. The man came out of nowhere and grabbed me. They put me into a van. Covered my face with a sack. Next thing, I saw myself in a dark room. Nothing but walls and a door. There were two men, one was talking on the phone and the other was sharpening a knife blade.

They started asking me questions, like what I wanted from their girls and why I was threatening their lives. When I told them that I wasn't, and that I simply wanted to take her home, they laughed. Then, they brought Penelope in. The moment I saw her, I wanted to hug her. I shouted at the men to untie me from the chair, all they did was laugh again."

"Then she spoke to me. Said that I should just leave and leave her alone. I was ruining her life, she said. My sixteen year old daughter was telling me that she no longer needed me. You could only imagine how much of a failure I felt like as a father, seeing my daughter prefer to sell her own body for money that return home. Of course, I was hurt. She didn't seem to care. She left. Not an ounce of remorse for her father. So the only thing I thought right to do when offered to work with them was agree. I'd be able to keep an eye on Penelope."

At this, Billie couldn't help but blurt out a scoff. "Mr. Gibson, do you really want to keep an eye on your daughter while she sells her body to aging perverts? On what basis did you truly agree to work with your worst enemy?"

"You don't understand what I'm going through, so don't you dare judge me." Tyla scowled at her viciously, repositioning the gun to make her place known. "Do you want to know what you are to me now, Ms. Eilish? A risk. Anytime they find out about you, they find out about us, and do you want to know what they'll do to me? Bad things."

"You don't want to do this. Your daughter, I'm certain, is struck by stockholm syndrome. This happens to a lot of captures like her. These girls think that this is the life they want and the only way that they could make a living. If you just let me-"